


Love Notes and Amaranth

by Dellefox



Series: Pridecember 2020 [18]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU, Aged-Up Character(s), Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff and Feels, Love Notes, M/M, Off-Grid AU, Prideshipping, Slice of Life, Some Fluff, YGOPridecember2020, Yami Yuugi | Atem Has His Own Body, altered character ages, doting fiances, spot the Star Trek reference, ygopridecember
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28491795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dellefox/pseuds/Dellefox
Summary: After a particularly difficult work meeting, Seto finds a surprise in his office that reminds him of what's really important. Off-grid AU. Prideshipping and fluff.Final fic for YGOPridecember2020.Prompts: Letter, Plant, FlowersAges:Seto - 30Atem - 28
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi | Atem
Series: Pridecember 2020 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037481
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Love Notes and Amaranth

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's January. But I technically started this one before the end of Pridecember so I'm counting it. :P
> 
> This is also the first fic I've written in which there is no dialogue. I had some at the end but it wasn't working so I took it out. 
> 
> This one takes place a few months after 'Ring.' Just some Prideshippy fluff and Atem reminding Seto of who he is and what really matters. <3 
> 
> Enjoy!

_March 2011_

Seto despised investor meetings.

He hated them because they were full of, as Malik had once put it, “stodgy old cishet white men who hate us peasants at the bottom.” While it had been nearly two decades since Seto had known the burdens of financial hardship, its presence in his life was constant. He watched Jonouchi plan his budget down to the penny every two weeks. He’d lost track of how many times he had visited Atem before they lived together to find the stockroom garage door open and a vehicle parked partway inside, usually Bakura's Volvo 460 or Marik’s ancient Ford F-100, tools and parts scattered everywhere because neither of them could afford to even take their vehicles to a mechanic. He’d watched Yugi stress over whether or not he could(or should) continue to invest in his dueling career or simply enter the workforce and go to night school until he was also offered a sponsorship.

Said investors were also disgustingly resistant to anything resembling technological or societal progress. Seto’s power as a CEO and influencer to those with disposable income and the sheer amounts of dollar signs attached to his own back account only slightly offset their phobia regarding his sexuality. They spoke ill of women who chose careers over children. The looked down their nose at the bright, technicolored hair and fashion of their target market. They dismissed marketing reports, focus groups, any and all testimony from a demographic they regarded as stupid, rebellious, and lower-class, always voicing doubts regarding any new product release or improvement. They only shut up when the sales figures came in after a product release, reversing course and piling on contrived platitudes of “groundbreaking,” “epic,” or “ahead of its time.” It was a roller coaster that Seto hated with a white hot rage. He was taking steps to slowly purge the investor pool of their presence, but he was far from eliminating them all.

On this particular morning, he had to be in the office at a horrifically early hour to accommodate their time zones. This meant that his assistants, receptionist, and a small core team of employees had to rearrange their lives for this meeting. For them, it meant last-minute childcare(which Seto was happy to provide), an upheaval of schedules, and sacrifice of family time, the latter of which infuriated Seto the most. His investors had been made well aware of the value his company placed on life outside the office, and they chose to ignore it every time because Heaven forbid any of these out-of-touch, obsolete narcissists lift a finger to accommodate others.

It also meant that instead of commuting home to his little slice of paradise out in the country, he was stuck staying in a hotel in Downtown Domino City, away from his fiancé, their homestead and their whiskered and feathered family. Seto did not like sleeping alone. He managed four and a half hours of fitful, barely cohesive slumber before he had to get up and head to the office.

The meeting was long and slow, and what should have been a smooth presentation was mired in childish questions of Seto’s knowledge and qualifications as a CEO and engineer(as if the fact that his company raked in billions every year didn’t speak for itself), and more questions regarding technology that Seto had answered dozens of times in meetings prior, information that these immature codgers should have had memorized long ago. Even Tomoyo, Seto’s secretary who was a grandmother herself, had no problem keeping up with the latest advancements of the company so why couldn’t they? The meeting ran over by two hours as a result, and the entire team was so tired and frustrated by the time the call was finally terminated that Seto dismissed them for the remainder of the day, with a large bonus tacked on to their next paycheck. It was only noon, but the meeting had started at six, Seto had arrived at four, and the rest of the team at five.

He wearily made his way to his office after the meeting, footsteps heavy, dark circles under his eyes. He was about to collapse on the plush sofa for a quick nap before heading home, but something caught his eye. He set his briefcase down and padded over to the dark oak antique desk to find a small pothos in a navy blue pot, an amaranth cutting in a clear vase, and a note.

_The pothos is for Tomoyo’s daughter to replace the one their cat got into. It’s from the same mother plant as the previous one. The Amaranth is for your desk._

_Don’t let a bunch of entitled, infantile cynics hold space they aren’t welcome to. They wish they could be the kind of man you are. They’ll never be anything near it._

_Don’t let them make you feel inadequate. You are enough. You are MORE than enough._

_I love you so very much, my Seto. I can’t wait to marry you._

_-Imzadi_

He felt the very beginnings of what may have been tears prickle at his eyes(most certainly exhaustion and definitely not at all to do with the fact that he had the most loving, supportive partner in the entire universe). Frustration faded away to warmth. The nap could wait.

The commute felt just as long as the meeting. An accident on the main freeway resulted in multiple lanes being closed, and his normally 90-minute commute stretched to nearly three hours. At long last he found himself parked in the garage. He dragged himself from his car, exhausted. As he kicked off his shoes and scooted them into the cubby in the mud room, his legs felt like lead.

But the sight of Atem’s face lighting up at his unexpected early arrival made it worthwhile, and he very quickly found himself supporting his fiancé’s frame as the much shorter man leapt into his arms, wrapped himself around Seto, and gave him a deep, passionate kiss. As their tongues intertwined he slowly began to feel rejuvenated, and he carried them to the bedroom.

Everything else could wait. The rest of the day belonged to them.

**Author's Note:**

> Atem chose Amaranth because it symbolizes immortal love. 
> 
> This originally started off _very_ differently. I was working on a prompt suggested by the wonderful Prismatic-Bell, and it just evolved into this instead. xD Still working on that prompt, but it won't be done for awhile. 
> 
> As always, much love and thanks to everyone for kudos/shares/feedback!


End file.
